Mothering Magazine Explains Why We Need a Breastfeeding Culture

Santa Fe, New Mexico - The New York Times recently announced that, according to public health officials, not breastfeeding could be hazardous to your baby’s health. So why is it that images of bottles—instead of breasts—are equated with feeding infants in our culture? Canadian lactivist and author, Stephanie Ondrack, explains why we need to “Take Down the Almighty Bottle” in the July/August issue of Mothering magazine .

Although experts, doctors, nurses, mothers, and even formula marketers say that "breast is best," the prevailing societal perception is that bottle-feeding of breastmilk substitutes is nonetheless okay: that it is really "just as good." This misconception is perpetuated on many levels through a variety of media and erroneous beliefs.

• Words - Perhaps the most elusive is the bias embedded in the word breastmilk itself. How did it happen that human milk is denied the generic term of milk? Our culture has an obsession with the human female breast as sexual object that has eclipsed its primary and original role as a source of vital nutrition.


• Image - Bottle-feeding is consistently reinforced as the norm in subtle but pervasive displays in our society through children’s books, magazine ads, movies, TV, clothing and baby dolls adorned with bottles.


• Public Reactions - The fact that breastfeeding in public is even an issue speaks volumes about the dominance of bottle-feeding in our culture. Recent generations have become so accustomed to bottle-feeding that the normal, natural sight of breastfeeding is foreign to most. A lack of tolerance, a sense that there is something wrong, even inappropriate or verging on taboo, about contact between a child and a mother’s breast demonstrates how breastfeeding has been undermined.


• Lack of awareness of breastfeeding benefits - The underreported truth is that babies come to the breast for much more than optimal nutrition. Breastfeeding offers protection from ear infections, diarrhea, obesity, certain cancers, allergies, and develops the jaw and brain. Breastfeeding also facilitates attachment, bonding and trust, as well as offering stress-relieving comfort.


• Assumption that bottle-feeding is inevitable - New parents often ask at what age they can start giving their baby a bottle as though it was part of normal development. In fact, introducing bottle-feeding directly threatens breastfeeding through nipple confusion, a reduced milk supply, and premature weaning. Some new parents mistakenly conclude that pumping breastmilk, buying and sterilizing bottles, and storing and reheating milk is easier or cheaper than simply committing themselves to exclusive breastfeeding.

For more information and resources, read the July/August 2006 issue of Mothering magazine's, "Taking Down the Almighty Bottle" by Stephanie Ondrack. This article clearly underlines the obstacles to breastfeeding that women in our culture face. Mothering magazine prints breastfeeding articles in every issue and is a trusted resource on breastfeeding education and support.

For further inspiration, check out Peggy O'Mara's award-winning editorial, "Breastfeeding in Whose Public?" in our September/October 2005 Special Pregnancy Issue or read it online at www.mothering.com/guest_editors/quiet_place/132.html

Mothering is a bimonthly magazine that reports on natural family living. Articles cover pregnancy, childbirth options, midwifery, breastfeeding, educational alternatives, and family health issues. Check out www.mothering.com

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